BandLab has brought a range of three audio interfaces to market, the first of which is the Link Analog. Tech allowing you to connect your guitar, bass or microphone directly to your phone isn’t new, but BandLab who have recently moved into this space and seem to be doing so with the idea that it’s ripe for innovation.
The first thing you're going to notice about the Link Analog is its weight. The audio interface itself feels like a substantial piece of equipment. Clearly some thought has gone into the boxing, it’s very reminiscent of an Apple product. These days every part of a product is an important part of the experience.
The instructions (for those of us who still read these things) are very simple. You open your mobile recording app of choice (BandLab comes recommended on the box) and plug your phone directly into the unit. Then you take your guitar or mic and plug it into the combo-jack on the front of the unit. You get a feeling of confirmation when you plug in your cable and a little green light comes on as if to tell you, “you are doing this correctly!”
From here you're ready to record. To hear playback in real time you can connect a speaker, headphones or an amp to the unit and enable your app's real-time monitoring to listen as you play. It's as simple as that to start using a multitude of effects for rehearsing or laying down a guitar riff or vocal take into your mobile recording software.
The Link Analog currently sells for $39.99 with free shipping worldwide. This is a great entry level price point for any musician and the quality of the product and unit is phenomenal for that price.
The additional accessories seem to have been selected and chosen with care, the coiled cable which connects the Link Analog to your phone has enough stretch and when coupled with the weight of the unit isn’t going to pull your phone off the table along with the microphone lead or guitar cable.
The next two units in the series, the Link Digital and Digital Duo are designed to work with desktops and computers with a USB connector and single and double track recording inputs respectively.
Designed and manufactured entirely in-house by the BandLab team this is an exciting and carefully thought out entry into the recording hardware category.